Month: February 2014

If places are inspiring to discover, so with a person too. I just couldn’t forget this lady who suddenly came out from a beautiful house which I sighted for a click in my camera. Feeling hesitant she might gave me a suspicious thought, I immediately apologized for her permission to take a picture. Her aura was social and elite but gifted in having the interpersonal skills, a pathway that had led us to have a nice “talk” and shared our views in life.

The office house of “Kaamulan” where I met Ma’am Elsie

I salute her positive outlook in life, her inspirations and admiration which had caused her to be happy and accommodating. The showing of interest to other people is for her a blessing and she treasured it as part of God’s plan for her and for me. When she I asked me why I did the photography, I revealed to her my passion for blogging. I followed the flow of our interactive conversation till I knew that she was a “cancer stage 4” survivor. What a very unique and wholesome encounter I had with this beautiful yet strong lady of Malaybalay. Nice meeting you ma’am Elsie! Our meeting was an open chapter story of our life. I shall not forget you.

Nevertheless, I could not forget how good you were to us. You were a man of principle and a man of dignity perhaps but maybe I didn’t know yet. Our marriage lasted for five consecutive years 0nly then another two years after we had a second try. Your memories with us used to be so sweet. You were a loving father and a thoughtful husband. You were a good provider, a very industrious worker and a defender.

You used to tell us jokes, though seriousness prevail sometimes especially if confronted by a problem. Your decision making was so realistic and practical, things that I missed after you had left us.

When I spotted your cadaver box at Ninoy International Airport in Manila, I burst into tears. What was in my mind was our fresh and sweet memories of companionship so I almost died in crying. Thanks to the Security guards who understood my case. I kept holding my tears because crying had been my only way of expressing my upheavals for those many years when you had abandoned us. So I was not supposed to cry gravely but my emotional bagging was so heavy that I had to give in. Crying was so hard and painful. I felt how unfair the world was. The man I loved 25 years ago is still the man in my memory. God knew how I loved him.

To my daughters, this is a debt of gratitude or a graceful opportunity instead for now you see him, though he is dead, your memories with him is alive and memorable. For the first time we are gathered together as a family, distance is no more a barrier but sad to say, we could not hug him, we could not express our sentiments, for he could no longer see nor hear us.

Yes, he is dead and gone but the good memories are ours to cherish. We knew the truth and that truth is comforting. May all of us continue to fight our battle. To keep our integrity, loyalty and faithfulness for our living God, for in this way we will win and could see him in paradise.

Sound of silencehappens everywhere. In a unique setting, this may happen to an inner person of you, where you prefer not to talk or disclose something because of fear and uncertainties. That person has to wait for the right time to come for telling the realities…for all things have its own time to be known. A common setting of silence is the absence of noise around in order to grasp what is going on and what is going to happen, to fully understand the stream of time and events as you get yourself involved in a rendezvous or an episode. Let me tell you my own version of silence…a silence that had happened two decades ago which had dramatically brought my family’s life into struggles and pain. Many would agree that “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of choice”. Well, I may had a mistake of choosing a mate. At the onset of this story I was shaken by worries and uncertainties, afraid to face the unknown but I had no choice except to be strong and go on with life because I had my kids and my career to live with. What had happened to my family was not unique to everybody. Broken home is a common scenario in this world, what matters most is how you face life after you were struck emotionally and became devastated. My silence during those challenging times had eventually made me determined to raise my lovely kids alone. Free of distractions from lawsuits I just let the time passed by… full of injustices and prejudices. Airing my life’s upheavals towards the authorities was a waste of time, money and effort. He has the money to buy the law, he has the intelligence to twist everything, to turn the good into bad and or bad into good. I focused my life on the brighter side…loving my precious children, providing their needs and training them to be the good individuals in the society. They were my inspirations…I laughed with them…cried with them….sang with them…did outdoor events with them…and everything that a single mom could do to fill the emptiness they felt inside…to ease the pain… the pain of waiting for a dad who remained silent in the other country. Years had passed...and silence, just like a grown cancer…had struck his ego upon watching these four grown-up children, living a happy and descent life. I realized how lucky I was to watch them grow in my care. They had been loving, caring, understanding, respectful and thoughtful. In short, they’re been my precious gems and my inspirations. It was impossible for a single mom like me to let her daughters finish their university degrees so the three of them landed as the call center agents in our city.

Sometimes I got sick of listening to my friend’s stories, relating how proud they were towards their sons and daughters who successfully earned their respective degrees in college. Mine has nothing to boast of…except that I loved them and they loved me too. We’ve been a happy family.We shared our jokes…and we listened to one another relating how we got success and how we handled our failures.

Silence became our old friend...and the kids tried to have connections with him through the social media portals and they found him on facebook. I left my kids doing their own initiative to talk to their father. It was their privilege anyway to know the whereabouts of their long lost father. Besides, they were mature enough to manage their emotions and at last, they found him in Dubai. They posted and shared pictures with him, sent him messages, invited him to be a friend but to no avail…because he didn’t care. Their words were just like silent raindrops fell…and echoed in the wells of silence.

No one dared to disturb the sounds of silence and life must go on despite of rejections. Whatever his side’s story was never known to us. Our keeping of silence was then our way of offering prayers and good wishes for him, may he was happy with his life in the other side of the globe. May he always saw us on facebook which we felt he did. Pride had devoured his ego…he was deprived of the real happiness yet above all things we knew he was still a good person, and a good father. Years had passed, until finally we received messages from our facebook account informing us that he died that day.

It was November 28, 2013 and early in the morning our hearts were stabbed by the so called flash of the neon lights but for us those neon lights had turned into swords…splitting our hearts to sorrow and finally broke the sounds of silence. Seeing his cadaver was for us seeing him in person. “Fools said I you do not know” yes, we were like “fools”. Happy, for at last we saw him but sad because he was dead. It was a sad and sorrowful reunion.

The silencewe kept for almost two decades had been finally touched. Still we didn’t know what really had happened to him in Dubai, though he was able to talk to our third daughter before he died, many questions from our hearts were left unanswered. Pains had been stabbing our hearts since the day he left us. We tried to be strong and determined though we were weak…stood up willfully though we stumbled many times…and the sounds of silence kept pushing us to go on with our life.

Floating brings you the feeling of sensation of a total weightlessness. It will make you calm, relax and completely alone with yourself. Floating then is a condition to enhance relaxation, preparing your body to adopt the transition mode. In this process, a calm heart eventually develops, the emotional and physical health improves, inner peace and organized thinking comes in. Floating has plenty of benefits a person should enjoy. Research shows that floating was used as a therapy to cure almost all health problems for more than 40 years ago. Its curative effects were documented and many people around the world relied on this therapy.

Our stressful life today needs relaxation. Although there are varied relaxation options we can choose, including the many outdoor activities, considering floating as an outdoor event with curative effects is a wise thing to do. John Lilly, an American physician, designed the floating therapy as an optimal means for relaxation and meditation in order to revive a person’s strength. Yes, stress is necessary in us because it will enhance creativity on our part. However, stress will become harmful when it overwhelms us. It will interrupt the healthy state of our mind, resulting to an imbalanced nervous system. Floating is in favor of reviving our body’s natural relaxation response.

Floating can be done in two settings, depending on your geographical location, choice of mood and priorities. The first setting is the concept I presented at the onset of this article, the therapeutic floating which can be done only with the use of eight hundred pounds of Epsom salt dissolved into the ten inches of warm water. The solution is commonly mixed at the flotation tank, where you can get inside and float from fifty to sixty minutes. Flotation tank or isolation tank is especially designed as free of noise to reduce the sensory stimulation in order to greatly enhance an excellent environment of tranquility.

Floating can be done as an outdoor activity too. In this setting, therapeutic effects are not really experienced. However, meditation, relaxation, peace of mind, and other beneficial effects of going outdoors are to occur depending on the environment, and the emotional set up of an individual. Floatation therapy uses Epsom salt and warm water, which is known to have medicinal effects on the entire body, whereas normal floatation on the sea has only a brine salt.

The cold temperature experienced during the outdoor floating do not really support the required relaxing condition of the body. Too much effort on the sea floating is tiresome and can cause weakening. While effortless floating on the flotation tank is so beneficial yet latest research shows that regular flotation promotes total relief of chronic-related ailments such as anxiety, stress, depression and fibromyalgia. The warm water will help the body’s own system of recuperation and healing. This is the time where an individual can start his/her life anew after experiencing the therapy. One can really boast his experience during the float and as documented by Dr. John Lilly, the 12 succeeding sessions of flotation therapy will give at least 27 percent of total healing while 56 percent will improve the health condition. The health benefits gained will last for four months long so floating therapy is a worthwhile thing to try.

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedn , Twitter, Blog, and other social media channels had shaped the world into an ” instant click generations” to get things done in a second or so. The world’s view towards social media had turned the video-driven society into an instant reality, updated with the latest events, news or fads. Still, with the world’s remarkable taste of “new updates” on technological advancement like new apps in iPhones, android, iPad, iPod and tablets to feed the craving evolution of industry and help shape the world’s marketing set up into becoming more effective and competent in giving the consumers an instant yet quality service and satisfaction.

How was this intensified? The creeping “Vine” finally came to light last 2013. Its sturdy image was so catching that the video-driven society had turned their heads on how the vine will take roles in the field of marketing industry, academic fields and entertainment circles.

What is vine?

Vine is a mobile app owned by Twitter. Users can create a short video clips on their social media sites using the vine app. Its six and a half seconds maximum clip length is now availabe for iOS devices and has been introduced to Android, Windows Phone, HTML 5 , and Windows 8. Vine was discovered by Don Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll last June 2012. The company was acquired by Twitter on October 2012. In a couple of months – vine became the most used video sharing application in the market. It became the most downloaded free app within iOS app store.

Advertising Agencies

Vine rose to its prominence when a Turkish journalist completely documented the aftermath of a suicide bombing at the Turkish US Embassy. Columbia Records used Vines to promote the “Big Time Rush” new album and the World’s Funniest Video used Vines to gather more different scenes to entertain the audience. Being listed among the times 50 best Android apps for 2013, the advertising agencies quickly seized on Vine’s potential. Vine can make a remarkable leap for advertising strategies.

Advertising Strategies using Vine

The competitive process of industry and the weakening trust of advertisement are the two conflicting concerns of marketing today. Vine has it! Its documentary type video – clip is enough to present a true to life presentation or demo of a certain product or services. Vine can be used with these following facades:

Teaser Videos. You can use vine as your frontrunner of an advertising content, which reveal only the advertiser and the product. This is enough to arouse a widespread attention and build excitement to the public. Its so short so it is easy to publicize to all media vehicles.

Mini -Clips. You can present your selection or varied collection of games, news, products, services and other products you wish to publicize in every media channels. Vine has a complete character to suit your needs.

Sneak Peak. Vine is easy to use in providing a sneak peak of your product. Having a short preview of something not yet in public is exciting and appealing. This will provide an opportunity for the consumers to be guided of what is nearly going on. An informational presentation that will really give them ideas on their daily endeavor.

Video Testimonials. Vine is a perfect medium for sharing customer experiences. Since the process is on collecting the testimonials from willing people to talk about your product, do not use scripted conversations. Just provide the high level concepts of what they are going to talk about but not giving the interviewee the exact question list. Then yu can capture the natural, believable and authentic response.

Research Tool. Use vine according to your research designs. Historical trivia, gathering answers or responses through video, conference has tag, highlighting of events, tell your brand story, showing off of products and other modified techniques to fit your research is just within a click of your fingertips.

Product Demo. With the presence of Vine, consumers can see a product demo through their handy gadgets. In just one click, a person can share what he discovers that interest them both. In the marketing industry, launching a demo is so easy and the quick attraction of buyers will a make fast dissemination of a product knowledge. Product demo will also bring your presentations to life. This will mean more sign ups in your webinar or get more subscribers to your pod cast.

Vine is potential in transforming powers. The six second looping films will expand the business activities directly because it has a great story-telling power in the digital form. The easy and quick use of it can provide a decent and quick visuals of every timely events and scenes.

Now, why not try the Vine apps in your marketing and feed your social media channels with fascinating information about your products? You might be a big time owner of the company or an advertising manager, an educator, an artist or a professional who is a proactive in the digital age. Come on! This is your opportunity to prosper and show up for your long time dreams.

The pictures shown above were the scenarios of the flooded MUST(Mindanao University of Science and Technology), One of the prominent Universities in Mindanao, Limketkai Complex Junction and the avenue of CM Recto. These pictures were taken at 1:58 PM, the time when the City Disaster Reduction Management Office issued a CODE RED status to Cagayan de Oro. Residents along the riverbanks, seashores and landslide prone areas were ordered to have a forced evacuation. This is the most flood prone area in the City, before it rose its prominence as the center of commercial transactions, this place was formerly known as a swampy area where the rice fields were cultivated. The truth is, the local officials and the people already knew the consequences every time the strong rains occur in this place. However, the city improvements were primarily geared towards commercial developments and major city infrastructures.

Along the Limketkai Complex is the deep canal actually stacked up with garbage like tin cans, cellophane, empty bottles and other human wastes. The canal source arises from the crowded slope areas above the city, so it was already loaded with wastes before it reached the Limketkai vicinity. To shun away shamefulness, the garbage loaded canal was actually covered within the area of the mall. Another factor that will cause further flooding is the high tide. The area is just three kilometer away from the sea so whenever high tides occur, flood waters cannot escaped through the sea. How come there was no regular cleaning of the loaded canal with the use of the back hoe? Or implement strict compliance of proper garbage disposal?

As you can see at the pictures, there were no more vehicles passing by as car engines will be automatically drowned and choked , some small cars float and the dirty water caused health hazards to the residents nearby. This had eventually caused inactivity of economic transactions in the city. Shoppers, bankers, store owners, PUJ operators and the students were having hardships and interruptions with their normal activities. These were the repeated effects of flooding, how come they can’t take actions for this common problems happening repeatedly?

You might had visited Cagayan de Oro during its dry good seasons. Malls were crowded with shoppers from Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao , Ozamis and Zamboanga. Traffic problems were progressing so overpass and diversion roads were built to address the growing population of vehicles. It’s nice to roam around the city from the hinterland yet elite SM Mall down to the prestigious Limketkai Drive. Hotels in the city are having varied locations. You can have them at the heart of the city or by the beach. In a 30-minute drive you will land to its cozy restaurants by the beach, to the breathtaking scenery of Shrine in El Salvador, to the amazing Eco-Village Garden at Malasag and to the various swimming pools at the nearby towns. People are friendly. Taxi drivers are accommodating and happy to serve you when booked at the right price.

It’s nice to see Cagayan de Oro City again. However, see to it that your visit will not be accompanied by Mr. LPA or the disgusting Low Pressure Area. The city is so fragile with heavy rains, making your trips disturbed and not comfortable. The pictures shown above will remind you of what will happen. So consider the weather when you visit Cagayan de Oro.